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87-571: Known by various titles, it was originally played over five rounds (90 holes) over several other courses. When created in 1983, it had the highest purse on tour at $ 750,000. Tiger Woods recorded his first PGA Tour victory at Las Vegas in October 1996 , in a playoff over 1993 champion Davis Love III . The format was changed to 72 holes in 2004 . In 2007 the tournament announced that the Shriners Hospitals for Children would take over

174-709: A model and nanny . Nordegren was born in Stockholm . Her mother, politician Barbro Holmberg , is the former Swedish migration and asylum policy minister as well as the former Governor of Gävleborg County . Her father, Thomas Nordegren , is a radio journalist who has served as a bureau chief in Washington, D.C. She has an elder brother, Axel, and a twin sister Josefin Nordegren. Nordegren and her sister had summer jobs as cashiers in supermarkets to finance their studies. Elin started modeling in 2000, and appeared on

261-877: A 48 over nine holes at the Navy course. At age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC 's That's Incredible! Before turning seven, Woods won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch, and Putt competition, held at the Navy Golf Course in Cypress. In 1984 at the age of eight, he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships . He first broke 80 at age eight. He went on to win

348-494: A 5-year, $ 105 million contract extension with Nike, which was the largest endorsement package signed by a professional athlete at that time. Woods's endorsement has been credited with playing a significant role in taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier in the previous decade to becoming the leading golf apparel company in the world and a major player in the equipment and golf ball market. Nike Golf

435-432: A 6 handicap , played in the celebrity pro-am and hosted a benefit concert during the week of the tournament. The inaugural tournament in 1983 had a then-record official purse of $ 750,000 and Fuzzy Zoeller took the $ 135,000 winner's share at Las Vegas Country Club in mid-September. In 1984 , it became the first PGA Tour event in history to offer a purse exceeding a million dollars: champion Denis Watson won $ 162,000 from

522-493: A break from golf until his back healed. He returned for the Masters , finishing in a tie for 17th. In the final round, Woods injured his wrist after his club hit a tree root. He later stated that a bone popped out of his wrist, but he adjusted it back into place and finished the round. Woods then missed the cut at the 2015 U.S. Open and Open Championship , the first time Woods missed the cut at consecutive majors, finishing near

609-436: A day after finishing second in the U.S. Open . On 2 September 2008, Woods announced they were expecting another child in late winter. Nordegren gave birth to a boy, Charlie Axel , in 2009. In December 2009, her marriage to Woods was the subject of extensive media coverage after Woods admitted to infidelity, which had been revealed following his single-vehicle accident near the family's Florida home. After Woods' infidelity

696-481: A deal reportedly worth $ 40 million. Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, which was released in April 2005. The lightweight, titanium -construction watch, incorporates features to facilitate wearing the watch while playing the game. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing. In 2006,

783-624: A low of #58. He rose to No. 50 in mid-November after a third-place finish at the Emirates Australian Open , and broke his winless streak with a victory at December's Chevron World Challenge . Woods began his 2012 season with two tournaments (the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the AT&;T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am ) where he started off well but struggled on the final rounds. Following

870-643: A major. Woods returned to the winner's circle for the 80th time in his PGA Tour career on September 23, 2018, when he won the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club for the second time and that tournament for the third time. He shot rounds of 65–68–65–71 to win by two strokes over Billy Horschel . On April 14, 2019, Woods won the Masters , which was his first major championship win in eleven years and his 15th major overall. He finished 13 under par to win by one stroke over Dustin Johnson , Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka . At age 43, he became

957-469: A prize pool of $ 1,122,500. The tourney moved to late March in 1985 , to early May in 1986 , then to mid-October in 1990 . A tradition at the tournament is presenting the trophy to the champion while two showgirls are a part of the pomp and circumstance. In its history, the Las Vegas event has been hosted by numerous courses before settling at its current venue, TPC Summerlin. Past venues include TPC at

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1044-511: A professional golfer was over, although he would continue to play "a few events per year". For the first time since the car crash, he returned to the PGA Tour at the 2022 Masters . Woods was born on December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California , to Earl and Kultida "Tida" Woods. He is their only child, though he has two half-brothers and a half-sister from his father's first marriage. Earl

1131-629: A prolonged break because of the injury, during which he missed the Greenbrier Classic and his own AT&T National , he returned at the Open Championship at Muirfield . Despite being in contention all week and beginning the final round only two strokes behind Lee Westwood , he struggled with the speed of the greens and could only manage a 3-over-par 74 that left him tied for 6th place, five strokes behind eventual winner Phil Mickelson . Two weeks later, Woods returned to form at

1218-424: A second time. In 2000, Woods won six consecutive events on the PGA Tour, which was the longest winning streak since Ben Hogan did it in 1948. One of these was the U.S. Open , where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what Sports Illustrated called "the greatest performance in golf history", in which Woods won the tournament by a record 15-stroke margin and earned a check for $ 800,000. At age 24, he became

1305-495: A spectacular performance at the 2009 Presidents Cup , but he failed to win a major, the first year since 2004 that he did not do so. After his marital infidelities came to light and received massive media coverage at the end of 2009 (see further details below), Woods announced in December that he would be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. In February 2010, he delivered a televised apology for his behavior, saying "I

1392-559: A strong showing at the 2011 Masters , where he tied for fourth place. Due to leg injuries incurred at the Masters, he missed several summer stops on the PGA Tour. In July, he fired his longtime caddie Steve Williams (who was shocked by the dismissal), and replaced him on an interim basis with friend Bryon Bell until he hired Joe LaCava. After returning to tournament play in August, Woods continued to falter, and his ranking gradually fell to

1479-564: Is an American professional golfer . He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins , ranks second in men's major championships , and holds numerous golf records . Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and is one of the most famous athletes in modern history. He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame . Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur golf career, Woods turned professional in 1996 at

1566-458: Is licensed to practice law in England and Sweden) and several of Josefin's U.S. colleagues at international law firm McGuireWoods . Using the $ 100 million she received from her divorce from Woods, she purchased a $ 12 million Florida mansion built in the 1920s. She had the entire structure demolished after an architect advised that it made better sense to start over than to try bringing

1653-534: Is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $ 600 million in sales. Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf, frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments, and even in advertisements for other products. Woods receives a percentage from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment, golf balls, and has a building named after him at Nike's headquarters campus in Beaverton , Oregon. In 2002, Woods

1740-461: Is the fifth (after Gene Sarazen , Ben Hogan , Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus ) player to achieve the career Grand Slam , and the youngest to do so. He is also the second golfer out of two (after Nicklaus) to achieve a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships . He was also part of the American winning team for the 1999 Ryder Cup . In May 2019, Woods was awarded

1827-636: The 2001 Masters , he became the only player to win four consecutive major professional golf titles, although not in the same calendar year. This achievement came to be known as the "Tiger Slam". Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which he continued to dominate the tour, Woods's career hit a slump. He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, ending Woods's record streak of 264 weeks at No. 1. Woods rebounded in 2005, winning six PGA Tour events and reclaiming

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1914-518: The 2013 Masters , Woods faced disqualification after unwittingly admitting in a post-round interview with ESPN that he took an illegal drop on the par-5 15th hole when his third shot bounced off the pin and into the water. After further review of television footage , Woods was assessed a two-stroke penalty for the drop but was not disqualified. He finished tied for fourth in the event. Woods won The Players Championship in May 2013, his second career win at

2001-728: The BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year , an award given to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport. Domestically, Woods has also been recognized by U.S. publications. He was named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, was named "Athlete of the Decade" by the Associated Press in 2009, and is one of only two people to be named Sports Illustrated ' s Sportsman of

2088-744: The California Hall of Fame . He was inducted December 5, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento. In May 2019, following his 2019 Masters Tournament win, Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump . In 2000 and 2001, Woods was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year , becoming the inaugural recipient of the award. In 2000 he received

2175-952: The Hero World Challenge . Woods's back problems continued to hinder him in 2017. He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January and pulled out of a European Tour event in Dubai on February 3. On March 31, Woods announced on his website that he would not be playing in the 2017 Masters Tournament despite being cleared to play by his doctors. Woods said that although he was happy with his rehabilitation, he did not feel "tournament ready." Woods subsequently told friends, "I'm done". On April 20, Woods announced that he had undergone his fourth back surgery since 2014 to alleviate back and leg pain. Recovery time required up to six months, meaning that Woods would spend

2262-610: The LPGA Championship . Woods grew up in Orange County, California . He was a child prodigy who was introduced to golf before the age of two by his athletic father Earl Woods. Earl was a single-digit handicap amateur golfer who also was one of the earliest African-American college baseball players at Kansas State University . Woods told reporters he had wanted to be a baseball player like his father but abandoned that goal after tearing his rotator cuff . His father

2349-521: The Memorial Tournament in June, tying Jack Nicklaus in second place for most PGA Tour victories; a month later, Woods surpassed Nicklaus with a win at the AT&T National , to trail only Sam Snead , who accumulated 82 PGA tour wins. The year 2013 brought a return of Woods's dominating play. In January, he won the Farmers Insurance Open by four shots for his 75th PGA Tour win. It was

2436-640: The Official World Golf Ranking . After a lackluster 1998, Woods finished the 1999 season with eight wins, including the PGA Championship , a feat not achieved since Johnny Miller did it in 1974. Woods was severely myopic; his eyesight had a rating of 11 diopters . In order to correct this problem, he underwent successful laser eye surgery in 1999, and he immediately resumed winning tour events. In 2007, his vision again began to deteriorate, and he underwent laser eye surgery

2523-485: The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump , the fourth golfer to receive the honor. On February 23, 2021, Woods was hospitalized in serious but stable condition after a single-car collision and underwent emergency surgery to repair compound fractures sustained in his right leg in addition to a shattered ankle. In an interview with Golf Digest in November 2021, Woods indicated that his full-time career as

2610-800: The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship , where he was knocked out in the second round by missing a 5-foot putt, Woods revised his putting technique and tied for second at The Honda Classic , with the lowest final-round score in his PGA Tour career. After a short time off due to another leg injury, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational , his first win on the PGA Tour since the BMW Championship in September 2009. Following several dismal performances, Woods notched his 73rd PGA Tour win at

2697-581: The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational , recording his 5th win of the season and 8th win at the event in its 15-year history. His second-round 61 matched his record score on the PGA Tour and could easily have been a 59 were it not for some short missed birdie putts on the closing holes. This gave him a seven-stroke lead that he held onto for the rest of the tournament. But at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, Woods never

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2784-598: The Zozo Championship in October 2019, which was the first-ever PGA Tour event played in Japan . Woods, who played a highly publicized skins game earlier in the week at the same course as the Championship, held at least a share of the lead after every round of the rain-delayed tournament, giving him a three stroke victory over Hideki Matsuyama . The win was Woods's 82nd on Tour, tying him with Sam Snead for

2871-407: The cut . However, he quickly returned to form and ended the year by winning six consecutive tour events. At the season's close, Woods had 54 total wins that included 12 majors; he broke the tour records for both total wins and total majors wins over eleven seasons. Woods continued to excel in 2007 and the first part of 2008. In April 2008, he underwent knee surgery and missed the next two months on

2958-538: The 1994 NCAA champions. He enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1994 under a golf scholarship and won his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, that September. He selected a major in economics and was nicknamed " Urkel " by college teammate Notah Begay III . In 1995, he successfully defended his U.S. Amateur title at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island and

3045-446: The 2010 tournament, Jonathan Byrd made a hole in one on the fourth hole of a three-man sudden-death playoff to win. Source: Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records. Sources: The first 21 events (1983–2003) were scheduled for 90 holes. Aggregate To-par The event switched to a 72-hole format in 2004 . Aggregate To-par Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont " Tiger " Woods (born December 30, 1975)

3132-917: The Canyons (now TPC Las Vegas), Bear's Best Golf Club, Southern Highlands Golf Club, Desert Inn Country Club (now the Wynn Golf & Country Club), Las Vegas Country Club, Las Vegas Hilton Country Club (now Las Vegas National Golf Club), Sunrise Golf Club, Spanish Trail Golf & Country Club, Showboat Country Club (now Wildhorse Golf Club), Dunes Country Club and Stallion Mountain Golf Club. Several of these courses are no longer operational. Three players have won multiple titles in Las Vegas. Jim Furyk won three times, in 1995, 1998 and 1999. Kevin Na has won twice, in 2011 and 2019. And Martin Laird won in 2009 and 2020. In

3219-457: The Internet. Despite them being fakes, Irish magazine The Dubliner published the nude photographs and stated they were of Nordegren. On 16 November 2006, Nordegren filed a libel suit against The Dubliner . Nordegren won €125,000, and The Dubliner was required to publish a lengthy apology in a variety of venues. In 2007, Woods announced the birth of the couple's daughter, Sam Alexis,

3306-505: The Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991. Woods's father Earl wrote that Tiger first defeated him at the age of 11 years, with Earl trying his best. He lost to Woods every time from then on. Woods first broke 70 on a regulation golf course at age 12. When Woods was 13 years old, he played in the 1989 Big I, which was his first major national junior tournament. In

3393-528: The Masters Champions Dinner on April 5, 2016. For the first time in his career, he missed all four majors in one year due to problems with his back. In October 2016, he told Charlie Rose on PBS that he still wanted to break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles. Woods underwent back surgery in December 2016 and spent the next 15 months off the Tour. He made his return to competitive golf in

3480-429: The PGA Tour since 2013. He then tied for sixth with a score of five under par at the 2018 Open Championship . At the last major of the year, the 2018 PGA Championship , Woods finished second, two shots behind the winner Brooks Koepka . It was his best result in a major since 2009 (second at the 2009 PGA Championship ) and moved him up to 26th in the world rankings. His final round of 64 was his best-ever final round in

3567-742: The TAG Heuer Professional Golf Watch won the prestigious iF product design award in the Leisure/Lifestyle category. Woods also endorsed the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games; he has done so since 1999. In 2006, he signed a six-year contract with Electronic Arts , the series' publisher. In February 2007, Woods, Roger Federer , and Thierry Henry became ambassadors for the " Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not disclose financial terms, though an expert estimated

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3654-403: The Year more than once. Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters , Woods has been the biggest name in golf and his presence in tournaments has drawn a huge fan following. Some sources have credited him for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new PGA tournament audiences, and for drawing the largest TV ratings in golf history. His recognition as one of

3741-408: The age of 20. By the end of April 1997, he had won three PGA Tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters , which he won by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance. He reached number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He

3828-548: The bottom of the leaderboard both times. He finished tied for 18th at the Quicken Loans National on August 2. In late August 2015, Woods played quite well at the Wyndham Championship finishing the tournament at 13-under, only four strokes behind the winner, and tied for 10th place. Woods offered only a brief comment on the speculation that he was still recovering from back surgery , saying it

3915-522: The cover of Cafe Sport magazine in the summer of 2000. In May 2014, Nordegren graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida , with a degree in psychology, receiving the outstanding senior award. Nordegren took a job in Champagne, a Stockholm clothing store, where she met Mia Parnevik, wife of Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik , who hired Nordegren as the au pair to their children,

4002-529: The cut and finished in 47th place at 13-over par, 23 shots behind the winner Scottie Scheffler . In August 2022, Woods, Rory McIlroy , Mike McCarley , and the PGA Tour announced the formation of TGL , a six-team virtual golfing league. In November 2023, Woods revealed himself as an co-owner and player for Jupiter Links Golf Club , founded with investments by David Blitzer . On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver announced that Woods would be inducted into

4089-410: The cut. He next played at The Open Championship , contested at Hoylake, where Woods had won eight years prior. Woods fired a brilliant 69 in the first round to put himself in contention, but shot 77 on Friday and eventually finished 69th. Despite his back pain, he played at the 2014 PGA Championship where he failed to make the cut. On August 25, 2014, Woods and his swing coach Sean Foley parted ways. In

4176-542: The deal could total between $ 10 million and $ 20 million. In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Woods would have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" was his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, Golfweek magazine reported that it was for five years and could pay him as much as $ 100 million. The company decided in early fall 2009 to discontinue

4263-558: The drink due to weak sales. In October 2012, it was announced that Woods signed an exclusive endorsement deal with Fuse Science, Inc, a sports nutrition firm. Elin Nordegren Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren ( Swedish pronunciation: [ˈěːlɪn ˈnûːɖɛˌɡreːn] ; born 1 January 1980) is the Swedish-born ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods . Nordegren has worked as

4350-452: The event, notching his fourth win of the 2013 season. It was the quickest he got to four wins in any season of his professional career. Woods had a poor showing at the 2013 U.S. Open as a result of an elbow injury that he sustained at The Players Championship . In finishing at 13-over-par, he recorded his worst score as a professional and finished 12 strokes behind winner Justin Rose . After

4437-545: The final round, he was paired with pro John Daly , who was then relatively unknown. The event's format placed a professional with each group of juniors who had qualified. Daly birdied three of the last four holes to beat him by only one stroke. As a young teenager, Woods first met Jack Nicklaus in Los Angeles at the Bel-Air Country Club , when Nicklaus was performing a clinic for the club's members. Woods

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4524-400: The four years under Foley, he won eight times but no majors. He had previously won eight majors with Harmon and six with Haney. Woods said there was currently no timetable to find a replacement swing coach. On February 5, 2015, Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open after another back injury. Woods stated on his website that it was unrelated to his previous surgery and he would take

4611-621: The greatest total number of weeks of any golfer in history. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times and has won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times. Woods has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 15 professional major golf championships (trailing only Jack Nicklaus , who leads with 18) and 82 PGA Tour events (tied for first all time with Sam Snead ). Woods leads all active golfers in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins. Woods

4698-476: The home up to current hurricane safety codes. Before demolishing the home in December 2011, she allowed Habitat for Humanity to come into the home for four weeks and salvage anything they found of value. The contents of the estate were auctioned at a Habitat for Humanity warehouse, including a 12-foot (3.7 m) fountain with water spouting out of three lions' mouths, five refrigerators , temperature-controlled wine coolers, and other furniture. In June 2019, it

4785-452: The job requiring her to move full-time to the U.S. Tiger Woods was introduced to her during the 2001 Open Championship . For the previous year, Woods had asked to be introduced to Nordegren, who was seeing someone else at the time. "She had no interest in Tiger and he was OK with that," Mia Parnevik said. "There was a big line of single golfers wanting to meet her. They were gaga over her." At

4872-470: The list of the world's top 1,000 golfers. On his return to regular competition, Woods made steady progress to the top of the game, winning his first tournament in five years at the Tour Championship in September 2018 and his first major in 11 years at the 2019 Masters . Woods has held numerous golf records. He has been the number one player in the world for the most consecutive weeks and for

4959-425: The most famous athletes in modern history includes being depicted in a wax sculpture at Madame Tussauds . During the first decade of his professional career, Woods was the world's most marketable athlete. Shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, he signed endorsement deals with numerous companies, including General Motors , Titleist , General Mills , American Express , Accenture , and Nike . In 2000, he signed

5046-400: The most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time. Woods was named Sports Illustrated ' s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year . On April 13, 1997, he won his first major , the Masters , in record-breaking fashion and became the tournament's youngest winner at age 21. Two months later, he set the record for the fastest ascent to No. 1 in

5133-471: The most victories all time on the PGA Tour. In December 2020, Woods had microdiscectomy surgery on his back for the fifth time. The operation was to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching his nerve and causing him pain during the PNC Championship. Woods returned to play in his first professional tournament since his 2021 motor vehicle crash at the 2022 Masters Tournament . He made

5220-666: The operations of the tournament and that the Las Vegas Founders, a volunteer group, would no longer be involved with the event. The following year Fry's Electronics, chief presenting sponsor in 2006 and 2007, ended their association with the event, choosing to concentrate on a second tournament in Arizona that it was already sponsoring. Entertainer Justin Timberlake was the host of the tournament for five years, 2008 through 2012 . Timberlake, an avid golfer who plays to

5307-412: The position. In August, Woods hired Sean Foley as Haney's replacement. The rest of the season went badly for Woods, who failed to win a single event for the first time since turning professional, while nevertheless finishing the season ranked No. 2 in the world. In 2011, Woods's performance continued to suffer; this took its toll on his ranking. After falling to No. 7 in March, he rebounded to No. 5 with

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5394-448: The remainder of the season due to additional knee surgery, and that his knee was more severely damaged than previously revealed, prompting even greater praise for his U.S. Open performance. Woods called it "my greatest ever championship." In Woods's absence, television ratings for the remainder of the season suffered a huge decline from 2007. Woods had a much anticipated return to golf in 2009, when he performed well. His comeback included

5481-702: The rest of the year without playing any professional golf. Woods returned to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He shot rounds of 69–68–75–68 and finished tied for 9th place. His world ranking went from 1,199th to 668th, which was the biggest jump in the world rankings in his career. On March 11, 2018, he finished one-shot back and tied for second at the Valspar Championship in Florida, his first top-five finish on

5568-586: The second oldest golfer ever to win the Masters, after Jack Nicklaus who was 46 when he triumphed in 1986. In August 2019, Woods announced via social media that he underwent knee surgery to repair minor cartilage damage and that he had an arthroscopic procedure during the Tour Championship. In his statement, Woods also confirmed that he was walking and intends on traveling and playing in Japan in October. Woods played in his first 2020 PGA Tour event at

5655-455: The seventh time he won the event. In March, he won the WGC-Cadillac Championship , also for the seventh time, giving him his 17th WGC title and first since 2009. Two weeks later, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational , winning the event for a record-tying 8th time. The win moved him back to the top of the world rankings. To commemorate that achievement, Nike was quick to launch an ad with the tagline "winning takes care of everything". During

5742-455: The silver medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship , he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years in order to turn professional in the golf industry. In 1996, Woods moved out of California, stating in 2013 that it was due to the state's high tax rate. Woods turned professional at age 20 in August 1996 and immediately signed advertising deals with Nike, Inc. and Titleist that ranked as

5829-425: The time, Elin . Woods admitted to multiple marital infidelities, and the couple eventually divorced. He fell to number 58 in the world rankings in November 2011 before ascending again to the number-one ranking between March 2013 and May 2014. However, injuries led him to undergo four back surgeries between 2014 and 2017. Woods competed in only one tournament between August 2015 and January 2018, and he dropped off

5916-528: The time, she had hopes of becoming a child psychologist. In November 2003, Woods and Nordegren attended the Presidents Cup tournament in South Africa and became officially engaged when Woods proposed at the luxury Shamwari Game Reserve . They were married in October 2004, by the 19th hole of the Sandy Lane resort in Barbados. Woods rented the entire complex for a week, including three golf courses and 110 rooms, costing almost $ 2 million. Nude photographs purporting to be of Nordegren began circulating on

6003-412: The top spot in July after swapping it back and forth with Singh over the first half of the year. Woods began dominantly in 2006, winning his first two PGA tournaments but failing to capture his fifth Masters championship in April. Following the death of his father in May, Woods took some time off from the tour and appeared rusty upon his return at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club , where he missed

6090-410: The tour. Woods returned for the 2008 U.S. Open , where he struggled the first day but ultimately claimed a dramatic sudden death victory over Rocco Mediate that followed an 18-hole playoff, after which Mediate said, "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination," and Kenny Perry added, "He beat everybody on one leg." Two days later, Woods announced that he would miss

6177-402: The youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam . At the end of 2000, Woods had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, the only athlete to be honored twice, and was ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the twelfth-best golfer of all time. When Woods won

6264-452: Was "just my hip" but offering no specifics. Woods had back surgery on September 16, 2015. In late March 2016, he announced that he would miss the Masters while he recovered from the surgery; he had also missed the 2014 Masters due to a back problem. "I'm absolutely making progress, and I'm really happy with how far I've come," he explained in a statement. "But I still have no timetable to return to competitive golf." However, he did attend

6351-407: Was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships (winning), and the 1995 Walker Cup (losing). Woods graduated from Western High School at age 18 in 1994 and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" among the graduating class. He starred for the high school's golf team under coach Don Crosby. Woods learned to manage his stuttering as a boy. This

6438-682: Was a member of the military and had playing privileges at the Navy golf course beside the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos , which allowed Tiger to play there. Tiger also played at the par 3 Heartwell golf course in Long Beach , as well as some of the municipals in Long Beach. In 1978, Woods putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show . At age three, he shot

6525-693: Was a retired U.S. Army officer and Vietnam War veteran. Earl was born to African-American parents and was also said to have had European and Native American descent. Kultida (née Punsawad) is originally from Thailand , where Earl met her when he was on a tour of duty there in 1968. She is of mixed Thai, Chinese, and Dutch ancestry. In 2002, ESPN claimed: "For the record, he is one-quarter Thai, one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter African American, one-eighth Caucasian and one-eighth Native American." Tiger has described his ethnic make-up as " Cablinasian " (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian). Woods's first name, Eldrick,

6612-488: Was broken by Jim Liu in 2010. He was named 1991's Southern California Amateur Player of the Year (for the second consecutive year) and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year. In 1992, he defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the tournament's first two-time winner. He also competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open (he missed the 36-hole cut), and

6699-506: Was chosen by his mother because it began with "E" (for Earl) and ended with "K" (for Kultida). His middle name Tont is a traditional Thai name. He was nicknamed Tiger in honor of his father's friend, South Vietnamese Colonel Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger. Woods has a niece, Cheyenne Woods , who played for the Wake Forest University golf team and turned professional in 2012 when she made her pro debut in

6786-480: Was in contention, making 2013 his fifth full season where he did not win a major; he was in contention in only two of the four majors in 2013. After a slow start to 2014, Woods sustained an injury during the final round of The Honda Classic and was unable to finish the tournament. He withdrew after the 13th hole, citing back pain. He subsequently competed in the WGC-Cadillac Championship but

6873-430: Was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick 's Rendezvous SUV . A company spokesman stated that Buick was happy with the value of Woods's endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying, "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February 2004, Buick renewed Woods's endorsement contract for another five years, in

6960-463: Was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year, and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year. The following year, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur; he remains the event's only three-time winner. In 1994, at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida, he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur , a record he held until 2008 when it was broken by Danny Lee . He

7047-436: Was not widely known until he wrote a letter to a boy who contemplated suicide. Woods wrote, "I know what it's like to be different and to sometimes not fit in. I also stuttered as a child and I would talk to my dog and he would sit there and listen until he fell asleep. I also took a class for two years to help me, and I finally learned to stop." Woods was heavily recruited by college golf powers. He chose Stanford University ,

7134-460: Was part of the show, and he impressed Nicklaus and the crowd with his skills and potential. Earl Woods had researched in detail the career accomplishments of Nicklaus and had set his young son the goals of breaking those records. Woods was 15 years old and a student at Western High School in Anaheim when he became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion; this was a record that stood until it

7221-666: Was revealed, Jesper Parnevik was quoted as having said, "I'm kind of filled with sorrow for Elin since me and my wife are at fault for hooking her up with him, and we probably thought he was a better guy than he is." Woods announced he would take an "indefinite break" from golf to work on his marriage. These efforts were unsuccessful, however, as Nordegren and Woods finalized their divorce in the Bay County Circuit Court in Panama City, Florida , on 23 August 2010. Nordegren's legal team included her sister, Josefin (who

7308-468: Was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 consecutive weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 consecutive weeks). During this time, he won 13 of golf's major championships. The next decade of Woods's career was marked by comebacks from personal problems and injuries. He took a self-imposed hiatus from professional golf from December 2009 to early April 2010 in an attempt to resolve marital issues with his wife at

7395-436: Was visibly in pain during much of the last round. He was forced to skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of March 2014, and after undergoing back surgery , he announced on April 1 that he would miss the Masters for the first time since 1994. Woods returned at the Quicken Loans National in June, however he said that his expectations for the week were low. He struggled with nearly every aspect of his game and missed

7482-488: Was voted Pac-10 Player of the Year, NCAA First Team All-American, and Stanford's Male Freshman of the Year (an award that encompasses all sports). At age 19, Woods participated in his first PGA Tour major, the 1995 Masters , and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship . In winning

7569-597: Was wrong and I was foolish." During this period, several companies ended their endorsement deals with Woods. Woods returned to competition in April at the 2010 Masters , where he finished tied for fourth place. He followed the Masters with poor showings at the Quail Hollow Championship and the Players Championship, where he withdrew in the fourth round, citing injury. Shortly afterward, Hank Haney , Woods's coach since 2003, resigned

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